Trinity Football had its first game of the season on Saturday against Howard Payne University in Brownsville, Texas. After winning 47-29 for their first victory, the Tigers felt confident.
“It was a good feeling to get the first game. The guys played hard and executed the plan well,” said defensive line assistant coach Paul Michalak.
Trinity scored early in the first quarter with a 46-yard touchdown. Howard Payne came back to score and tie the game after the opening period. In the second quarter, the Tigers scored twice more, and with 17 seconds left in the half, sophomore wide receiver Cody Sandman pulled in a 17 yard pass to put the Tigers at 28-7 during the break.
After a touchdown from Howard Payne in the third quarter, sophomore running back Steven Sannoh had a three-yard touchdown and junior quarterback Robert Broyles found senior wide receiver Wes Wagner for an 11-yard score as the third quarter came to an end with Trinity up 41-15. Broyles then found sophomore tight end Sam Hartford for their second and final touchdown of the game to end with a Tiger victory of 47-29.
Junior Connor Yorloff led the defense with seven tackles. While on the offense, junior starting quarterback Mason Blaschke led with 186 passing yards.
“First games of the season are always a test to see how you come out and react because we haven’t had competition yet in a game setting. We had a lot of rust to knock off. Overall, we missed a couple of cues, but we got out there well,” said Blaschke.
Blaschke, who started four games as a quarterback last year, brought needed experience to the field for this relatively young group, but during the third quarter he landed on his wrist, causing a fracture, dislocation and slight break. Blaschke hopes for a quick recovery so he can rejoin his team.
“In the beginning, defense was in first, doing lights out tackles. Then we got complacent and thought we had the game in the bag. We’ve got a young defense so next week we’ll work on being more consistent,” said junior starting linebacker Connor Yorloff on the play of the defense.
This young team is not just relying on talent to get them through the season; they put in extensive work during preseason.
“Every day during the summer, the coaches sent us workouts. We had something like 20 straight practices at one point. We’ve trained hard and are ready for a great season,” Yorloff said.
The Tiger men are guaranteed 10 games before the playoff. With the Trinity football tradition of making the playoffs each year, the men have set the goal of remaining undefeated this season.
“We want to show everyone that we’re a contender. We’ve got a lot of young and skilled guys who can contribute to the offense and defense, as well, and this year with new offensive coordinator Jerheme Urban we’re going to put points out on the board,” Blaschke said.
Trinity returns for their first home game of the season at 6 p.m. tomorrow against Texas Lutheran University.
